Posted on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
We have a winner!
City High sophomore Emma Holmes is the winner of the 2013 Paul Engle Day: Glory of the Senses Essay Contest, with her submission, "Swing Tree," in which she writes "about a fire caused by lightning that destroyed a tree where she played as a child."
She will be awarded one year of free tuition at the University of Iowa for her efforts.
Way to go, Emma!
Paul Engle was "the long-time director of the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop and co-founder of the UI’s International Writing Program," and the Glory of the Senses Essay Contest was created in an effort to celebrate his writing, particularly his memoir, A Lucky American Childhood. The contest, held by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, encourages young writers to share their "Iowa experience" in a three-five page essay, exploring and "drawing on a specific memory to capture the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of the day."
Emma will be honored on Paul Engle Day, October 12, 2013.
And here's a cool quote to think about, if you're gearing up to enter the contest next year:
"What was true about Iowa for Paul Engle at the beginning of the twentieth‐century is true now, at the dawn of a new millennium: we are surrounded by a vivid tapestry of sight and sound and smell that, if you pay attention to it, will not only enrich your experience, it will enlighten your mind."
